Escaped prisoner slain in southwest Iowa

Escaped prisoner slain in southwest Iowa

BEDFORD, Iowa (AP) - An escaped inmate suspected of shooting a southwest Iowa sheriff's deputy was killed Tuesday morning by a rural Bedford homeowner who said the armed man broke into his house, authorities said.

Rodney Long was shot to death after he broke into a retired farm couple's home about 10:15 p.m. Monday, awakening them. Long, who was armed with a handgun, cut their telephone lines and used their cell phone, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Mitch Mortvedt said.

After about four hours, Jerome Mauderly, 71, shot Long with a shotgun in the kitchen of the home he shares with his wife, Carolyn, 66.

"As the situation wore on the decision was made by the Mauderlys they were going to defend themselves," Mortvedt said. "At 2:11 a.m. the Taylor County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call from Carolyn Mauderly."

She told a dispatcher that her husband had shot an intruder.

An Iowa State Patrol officer was nearby and quickly responded, finding Long face down on the kitchen floor, Mortvedt said. No one else was injured.

Iowa officers, with help from Missouri officers and a Nebraska State Patrol aircraft, had been searching for Long since Sunday night, scouring about 16 square miles, after a southern Iowa sheriff's deputy was shot, Mortvedt said. They had searched the Mauderlys' property three times. The home is about 5 miles west of Bedford.

Long was serving a prison sentence for burglary and was scheduled for release in September 2014. He climbed a fence and escaped from the prison in Clarinda on Friday morning.

On Sunday, Long shot and wounded Taylor County Sheriff's Deputy Dan Wyckoff near New Market, about 10 miles northwest of Bedford, Mortvedt said. Clarinda, where Long was imprisoned, is eight miles west of New Market.